Virgin Atlantic to restart flights to 17 destinations in August
Virgin Atlantic has laid out plans to restart passenger flights to 17 more destinations from August onwards, following its initial return next month.
The new tranche of destinations include Barbados, Tel Aviv, San Francisco and Miami, though the restart does depend on travel restrictions being lifted around the world.
The announcement comes after the embattled carrier said at the beginning of the month that it would begin flying to Hong Kong, Shanghai, New York JFK and Los Angeles on 20 July.
It has also taken the decision to delay restarting services to Orlando, which had been planned for July, until 24 August.
The carrier also called on the government to scrap the current 14-day quarantine rule for incoming passengers in favour of a”multi-layered approach” including air bridges.
Chief operating officer Juva Jarvinen said: “We know that as the Covid-19 crisis subsides, air travel will be a vital enabler of the UK’s economic recovery.
“Therefore, we are calling for the UK Government to continually review its quarantine measures and instead look at a multi-layered approach of carefully targeted public health and screening measures, including air bridges, which will support a successful and safe restart of international air travel for passengers and businesses.”
The blanket rules are expected to be reviewed on 29 June. Over the weekend, Spanish officials confirmed that passengers from the UK would not have to self-isolate on arrival in the country.
Virgin plans to increase passenger flying throughout the second half of 2020, with a further, gradual recovery through 2021 in line with customer demand.
In April the carrier suspended all of its services as the coronavirus crisis hammered demand, forcing airlines around the world to ground planes.
The airline has been one of the hardest hit by the coronavirus crisis, with border closures severely impacting the lucrative transatlantic market in which it specialises.
Virgin has been in long-running talks with the government over potential support, and last month announced it would cut a third of its workforce and quit its Gatwick base due to the virus’ impact.